Nigeria and the US have introduced that they’ve killed an Islamic State (IS) chief in a joint operation.
Abu Bilal al-Minuki has been described by US President Donald Trump as “ISIS’ second-in-command worldwide” and “the world’s most energetic terrorist.”
IS has modified quickly in recent times, with about 90% of its assaults happening in sub-Saharan Africa. The department primarily based in Nigeria is probably the most energetic.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu mentioned the 2 nations carried out a “daring joint operation that dealt a big blow” to IS.
Al-Minuki was designated by Washington as a Specifically Designated International Terrorist in 2023.
He was killed together with “a number of lieutenants” throughout an assault on his compound within the Lake Chad Basin, an unlimited space of waterways and wetlands shared by Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
A army spokesperson mentioned intelligence officers confirmed that Minuki had arrange a fortified base in an space in Metere, Borno state.
The Lake Chad basin has lengthy been a stronghold for Boko Haram and its rival Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap).
The Nigerian army introduced the operation started shortly after midnight on Saturday after months of intelligence gathering and reconnaissance. It recorded “zero casualties and lack of property,” and described the operation as proof of elevated cooperation between the Nigerian and U.S. militaries.
In keeping with the newspaper, Al-Minuki has been promoted to “Director Common of the State Directorate,” making him one of the vital senior figures inside the world Islamic State hierarchy.
He beforehand oversaw Islamic State-related operations throughout the Sahel and West Africa, together with assaults focusing on civilians and ethnic minority communities.
The army additionally implicated Al-Minuki within the 2018 kidnapping of Dapchi schoolgirls, through which greater than 100 ladies from a boarding faculty in northeastern Nigeria had been taken by the extremist group Boko Haram.
He was mentioned to be a senior Boko Haram commander earlier than pledging allegiance to IS in 2015.
In 2009, Boko Haram started a army marketing campaign to determine Islamic management over northern Nigeria.
In 2015, the group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State after an individual believed to be then-leader Abubakar Shekau posted an audio assertion on Boko Haram’s X account.
The goal was to determine a state “caliphate” dominated by a single political and non secular chief in keeping with Islamic regulation, or sharia.
Abu Bilal Al Manuki is believed to be from Borno state in northeastern Nigeria. Analysts say his nickname seemingly got here from the state’s city of Mainok, following a typical regional custom through which individuals are recognized by their fatherland or surname.
The Nigerian army had beforehand claimed it had killed him in 2024, however recanted on Saturday and mentioned it was really one other fighter utilizing the identical pseudonym. He has additionally made related claims about different jihadists within the Lake Chad area, claiming about 5 occasions that he killed former Boko Haram chief Abu Bakar Shekau till his dying in Could 2021.
President Trump mentioned al-Minuki’s dying was a significant blow to Islamic State’s African and world networks, disrupting its funding channels and chain of command.
The US president thanked the Nigerian authorities for its “partnership” and added that Minuki “will not search to terrorize individuals in Africa or cooperate in planning operations focusing on Individuals.”
Nigeria and the US are rising army cooperation as they step up efforts to fight an extremist insurgency that has plagued Nigeria for greater than a decade.
The transfer follows President Trump’s earlier remarks that Nigeria shouldn’t be doing sufficient to guard weak individuals, together with the Christian group, a declare that has been repeatedly denied by Nigerian authorities, who preserve that violence within the nation impacts individuals no matter faith or perception.
In April, IS claimed accountability after gunmen killed at the least 29 individuals at a soccer area in Adamawa state, northeastern Nigeria.
Final Christmas, the US and Nigeria performed joint airstrikes focusing on Islamic State associates in Nigeria’s Sokoto state.
Talking just lately on the Africa CEO Discussion board in Kigali, Rwanda, Tinubu championed elevated safety cooperation between Nigeria and worldwide companions.
“There’ll at all times be safety challenges. We will not do it alone, we won’t run the world in isolation,” he mentioned.
“Even Mr. Trump, who’s so daring, is in China and speaking about Taiwan, so who am I in Nigeria to say I’ll do it alone? I’ve to embrace my neighbors. I’ve to pursue pragmatic cooperation and partnership, which is critical to extend the safety of lives and property of our individuals.”
